His Butterfingers
by 2three.abi
Summary: He then realized, although years had passed, some things never truly change. AU. Sequel to Almost Confessions and Everything In Between. NxM.


**Title: **His Butterfingers

**Summary: **He then realized, although years had passed, some things never truly change.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gakuen Alice.

**Warnings: **grammar errors, typos and OOC-ness

**A/N: **Please read my other one-shot entitled Almost Confessions and Everything In Between before reading this. This fanfic is like a companion story whatever to that one-shot (orz I forgot the term sorry XD), but this is based on the guy's pov /nugdenugde. Still based on a true story, but I don't know if any of this happened because this is the guy's pov and I know nothing about how he truly felt. I just assumed things hahaha oh and also, I listened to Time Forgets and Love Me (both by Yiruma) while writing this. Try listening to songs while reading this? XDDD

* * *

_**If you wait for the perfect moment, when all is safe and assured. It may never arrive.  
Mountains will not be climbed, races won, or lasting happiness achieved. – Maurice Chevalier**_

* * *

He could still remember the day they first met.

She stood out in the crowd of fellow students like them, wearing her school uniform even though it was only the first day of school.

He could still remember how hard he blushed when her eyes landed on him as she smiled and walked up to him.

"Do you belong in this class?" he heard her ask, her honey sweet voice full of unmasked curiosity.

Not trusting his own voice, he nodded quickly and audibly gulped as she motioned to take his right hand in hers and pulled him to join her now growing group.

"I haven't seen you around. Are you new here?"

He nodded once again and he heard her giggle. "Are you mute?"

He frowned. "No," he then answered afterwards.

She giggled once again. "Good to know."

He could still remember how friendly and shy at the same time (if ever that was possible) she was that day. And since then, he would find himself looking―_staring―_at her and watching her every move. The way her eyebrows would knit together whenever she was annoyed, how her eyes would twinkle as they turn into half-moon whenever she would giggle and laugh, and how her cheeks would blush whenever she was embarrassed.

He would smile secretly at the sight of her and he would secretly wish she would do the same.

* * *

He saw her one morning, walking alone to the gym for the flag ceremony. She looked so cute humming to herself and before he could even realize, he was walking up to her and putting both his hands on her chubby cheeks.

He stared at her face, her eyes widening and her cheeks blushing at his bold action. He wanted to hug her, to hold her close to him, but he couldn't do that. Instead, he pinched her cheeks hard and whispered, "You're so cute," only for her to hear.

He saw how her cheeks brightened even more at his comment and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips as he continued to stare at her.

Realizing what he had just done, he walked away. Feeling the weight of her stare on him, he paused near an unsuspecting female classmate, pinched her cheeks hard and put his shoulders around his classmate's shoulders as they went inside their classroom, chatting.

He immediately noticed how she was so quiet and moody for the rest of the day and he could only wonder why.

* * *

He blinked as the class president asked him where he wanted to seat.

"Whatever. You can place me wherever you want," he answered, feigning eagerness with nonchalance as he silently prayed to be assigned to seat beside her again.

The other male raised an elegant eyebrow at him. "You don't want to choose? Okay then, I'll choose for you. I'll make you seat with the girl who just transferred last week. You know she has this huge crush on you―"

Annoyed, he snatched the seat plan away from male in front of him and searched for her name before scribbling his own beside hers.

He then saw how the class president smirked mischievously at him. "Aren't you a bit tall to sit on the second row?"

"I have bad eyesight."

"Sure, you do."

"Every seat on that row seemed to be taken already."

"Yeah."

"I'm serious."

The class president chuckled. "I know."

* * *

He grinned widely as he watched her struggle with her wooden armchair. He leaned back and put his hands at the back of his head before saying in a teasing voice, "Seems like we're going to be seatmates again, ugly."

He saw her pout before moving to give him a punch on his arm. "Aw! That hurt, ugly!" He was lying of course. Her punch didn't hurt much and she certainly wasn't ugly. He just enjoyed teasing the heck out of her.

Her forehead knotted. She was clearly annoyed at him and he was enjoying every second of it.

"Shut up! You're ugly, too, ugly!" she retorted. Their bickering continued, he was sure he was grinning from ear to ear as he stared at her, until their homeroom teacher asked them to settle down for an activity she had prepared for her students.

The teacher asked them to close their eyes and hold their seatmates' hands.

He smiled a little when he felt her hands against his. A few seconds had passed and he couldn't help himself. He paused and intertwined their fingers together, liking the feel of her cold hand against the palm of his hand. He gave her hand a little squeeze when he felt like she was letting go of him. He only let her hand go when their economics teacher arrived and announced a surprise quiz. He didn't get to review yesterday's lessons the night before and he was certain that he was going to fail n this quiz, but what the hell.

He was happy anyway.

* * *

"Aren't you a little close to your seatmate?" one of his close friends and classmate asked him one time.

Jeering noises and teasing hoots echoed from everyone around him as he sighed, cupping his chin with his right hand. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He hadn't told anyone about his feelings for her because he was worried of what they would say. He didn't really like being the center of attention and he certainly didn't like the teasing tone his friends were using when talking to him about her.

"We're just that, seatmates. She's my classmate and she's my friend, too. Like you, guys," he then continued, trying not to sound too defensive. "Anyway, I had my eyes on this cute sophomore and I've been thinking of courting her."

He added that last bit of information to get them off his back. Sure, the girl he had in mind was cute, but she was not _her_. But his friends didn't need to know that.

"Another girl? What about _her_?"

"Hmm?"

"Your seatmate?"

"What about her?"

"That's what I'm asking you―"

He saw their class president place a hand on their friend's arm to stop the other male. "We're just worried about her, you know," the class president said before pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as he made his point.

"Why are you even worried about her?" he asked, blinking his eyes curiously.

His friends exchanged looks and shrugged their shoulders in his response to his question.

* * *

He noticed how her shoulders would sag every time he mentioned about this girl he was currently courting, but he didn't think too much about it. Maybe she was stressed with studying alone that she didn't want to be bothered with his love life? Ah, that must be it. But still, she gave him pieces of advice and he would thank her, bump his shoulders against hers and watch her smile as she returned the action.

* * *

"Good morning," he heard her say before placing her bag on the floor in front of her armchair.

He nodded at her direction and grunted as he prevented himself to stare at her. He felt her stare at him, so he asked her with a raised eyebrow, "What? Something wrong with my face?"

He saw her shake her head before replying, "No, it's nothing."

He wasn't convinced though and he continued staring at her.

"Really. Honest," answered as she moved to take her seat beside him.

"Whatever," he mumbled under his breath as he stretched his legs in front of him. He then felt her eyes on him and he couldn't help but look at her in the corner of his eye. He saw her biting her lips as she fidgeted with the pen in her right hand. A few seconds paused and he heard her call out for her name.

He secretly smiled before frowning. "Seriously," he told her, "What's the matter with you today? You seemed a little weirder than usual."

And indeed she was.

She pouted at his choice of words and he was mesmerized. She looked so cute, with her flushed cheek puffed and her little nose cringed and her eyebrows knitted together. He barely suppressed a chuckle before finally composing himself and his heartbeat.

"I―" she started and he raised an expectant eyebrow before crossing her arms across his chest.

He sighed in disappointment when she asked for his math homework instead. He was kind of expecting something… _ different_.

"That's it?" he asked and she nodded as a reply. He then picked his bag up, before rummaging it for a red notebook. Luckily, he had anticipated this situation the night before and he was prepared.

He gave her a smile the walked off after handing her his notebook and sticking his out to her, teasing her.

He chuckled to himself when he remember every word he wrote on that piece of paper he inserted inside his notebook last night.

_I knew you'd ask for my homework. By the way, I've interchanged solutions two and three. You're so stupid, ugly._

Oh, he could only imagine the look on her face after she had read the last line.

* * *

The girl, who was two years younger than them, he was courting finally agreed to be his girlfriend.

He noticed the surprised look on her face as he told her the news. Her eyes looked a bit glassy and she looked like she was about to cry, but then he blinked and suddenly, a cheerful smile was on her face instead. She congratulated him, patting his shoulders as she also teased him.

The next day, she came to school, her eyes puffy and swollen. And for a minute, a spark of hope was lightened in him.

_Could it be…?_

"Your eyes are all red and puffy. Are you sure nothing's wrong?" he heard one of her best friends ask her.

He then saw her smile a little before answering, "I'm fine. "

He gulped when she hesitated to continue what she was about to say for a bit and he leaned in closer to be able to hear her clearly.

She nervously giggled as she continued. "Family problems. And stuff. Yeah. Just some stuff. Don't worry about me."

His shoulders sagged in disappointment. Oh, how he wished was lying about this.

* * *

Days passed and he noticed how little by little, she distanced herself away from him. Yes, she still greeted him and she still talked to him, but something was definitely off.

He missed talking to her and teasing her. He simply missed being with her.

* * *

He made sure she was the only one left inside their classroom when he entered. He couldn't help it anymore. He wanted to talk to her. He _needed_ to talk to her.

Crossing his arms over chest, he watched her intently as she slowly organized her things inside her bag. He also leaned back against his seat (the teacher's chair), his eyes never leaving her petite form.

He felt a gentle tug on his chest when she turned to look at him before muttering a hurried goodbye, and that was when he almost lost it. He called her name and asked if it was okay to walk with her until the two of them reached the gym.

A smile almost appeared on his face when she agreed.

And so they walked together in silence. He didn't like it. He didn't like it that no matter how many things he wanted to tell her, he just couldn't even open his mouth or think properly. He wanted to break the silence, to say something to her. And he didn't know why, but he felt like she was somehow feeling the same, struggling with her inner thought like him.

Moments passed and he heard her call his name. His heart felt like bursting and his chest hurt and he could definitely feel a blush slowly creeping up to his cheeks and nose at the sound of her voice.

Coughing softly to compose himself, he looked at her with a pout forming on his lips. "What?" he then mumbled with much effort.

He thought he died and went to heaven and back (but of course, he was exaggerating) when she smiled at him cutely before shaking her head.

"It's nothing," she then quietly replied.

He stared at her. He assumed it wasn't nothing. He _hoped_ it wasn't nothing.

He called her name out as three little words dangled on the tip of his tongue. But then, a new voice called for him and he almost groaned when a pair of skinny arms wrapped around his arm.

He didn't even hear her say goodbye.

* * *

He and his girlfriend broke up a month and a week after that incident. The younger girl had the audacity to break up with him when he found out she was cheating on him with another guy from her own class.

But that wasn't the reason why he was annoyed. He was teetering on the edge of anger and jealousy when he saw her, a pair of male arms wrapped gently around her torso and her head leaned backwards on the guy's shoulders.

It didn't matter that they were practicing for a school play. It didn't matter that the said guy was gay. He was still pissed off and his forehead knotted and a scowl stayed on his face for the rest of the day.

* * *

He felt seat beside him. He almost sighed when he felt her shoulders against his. _Almost_. But the scene he saw earlier kept on replaying inside his head.

He then turned and glared at her. "What?

His expression on his face almost softened when he saw how she flinched at his obvious annoyance.

"I heard what happened," she then said.

He snorted. "Everyone did."

"You'll get over it."

"Oh," he said, a sarcastic smirk appearing on his lips, "so now you're talking to me?"

"Hey, I'm worried about you, okay? Everyone is. Stop being a jerk already."

He wanted to take his words back when he saw the hurt look on her face before she walked away.

* * *

She would frown at him whenever he would try to approach her. She would ignore him whenever he would try talk to her.

Two days had passed and he couldn't take it anymore. He knew he had to apologize to her. So he sat on his seat beside her and bumped his shoulders against hers to get her attention.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," she flatly replied.

He frowned. "Are you mad at me?" _Hn. Of course, she is, idiot. After snapping at her like that two days ago, do you really think she won't be at least annoyed at you?_

He rolled his eyes. He was talking to himself again. Shaking his head, he poked her cheek to tease her. He could almost smile when cutely glared at him.

"What?" she asked, obviously annoyed at him.

He knotted his forehead and caught her eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? I was just not in the mood the other day. I took it all out on you. I'm sorry."

He could feel his heart sank when she continued to ignore him, focusing on her math homework instead. He saw how she was struggling to solve the first problem. Sighing, he took her pen and notebook from her and scribbled all the answers on it.

"Hey! I'm doing my homework here!" she shouted near his ear, moving to reach her notebook, but he insisted and continued doing her homework for her.

He smirked. "Knowing you, you won't finish it in time for class."

He could feel her glare on him, but he didn't back down. After five minutes or so, he finally handed her notebook back to her. "There. All done. It's my peace offering. Forgive me?"

He saw her sigh as she looked at him. She sighed once again after a few seconds before reaching out to get her notebook.

"Fine," he heard her grumble under her breath as she opened the notebook and scanned the solutions he had written on a page.

"So am I forgiven?" he asked, as he moved closer to her. He could smell her, the faint smell of her perfume and the scent of sun lingering on her skin. He liked it.

"Yes," she whispered, her eyes full of concentration as she continued to try to understand her homework.

He couldn't help but chuckle at her response. _Finally_. He could finally get some sleep tonight. "I miss talking to you like this, you know," he then told her.

She snorted. "You were busy with your girlfriend for the last two months. Surely, you won't miss your old seatmate."

"Ex-girlfriend," he corrected her, his index fingers forming an 'x' inches away from her face. He then grunted. "Besides, you were the one who was avoiding me."

He saw how her cheeks flush. Hah. He was right.

"I wasn't avoiding you!" she said, her usually confident voice stammering. "I was... busy. Studying and stuff."

He grunted once again. "You were avoiding me. You think I didn't notice?"

He then saw her shook her head before saying, "Think what you want to think. Anyway, I heard your ex-girlfriend cheated on you. Is that true?"

He noticed just how she easily changed the topic. _Hn, whatever,_ he thought and nodded.

"What did you see in her anyway?" she told him, snorting once again as she continued to stare at him.

He stared back at her and let her question echo in his ears once again. He then smiled. "Right. What did I see in her anyway?"

He saw her blush once again before finally burying her nose on her homework once again.

* * *

It was already December and Christmas was finally coming. Which meant that their Christmas vacation was near, too.

He looked over their seats and breathed out a heavy sigh as he felt his heart race inside his chest.

He would do this today.

He then walked to his seat and immediately sat on it and he frowned when she didn't even look at him. Sighing once again, he reached for her wrist and decided to just get on with it.

_Consequences be damned._

He felt her move and the next thing he knew, she was pulling her arm away from him.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, flustered by his actions.

_Ugh. This isn't going well_. "I'm just checking if this bracelet suits you."

"What? Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's my gift. I'll give this to the person whose name I picked." _Gah, __I suck at this._

She frowned. "You picked me?"

"No, I was checking if it suits you." _Ugh. What the hell._ "I was thinking about giving you one, too. Do you want something like this?"

"And why would you give me a bracelet?"

He shrugged his shoulders once again. "So, do you want one?"

"No."

He felt like his heart was pulled out of his chest with her utter refusal.

* * *

Prom night.

He saw her, huddled in a corner, he nose buried on one of her books. He saw how her eyes squinted at the dim light and he sighed. What was he going to do with her?

He walked near her and decided to distract her from her book. He poked her arm a number of times and she would just ignore him. But when he felt like giving up, she harshly shut the book close and turned to face him.

"Don't tell me you're going to spend the prom reading a book," he told her.

She frowned and he easily understood that she didn't hear a thing he said. So he moved closer to her, he could smell her sweet scent of strawberries, and whispered to her ear.

"Are you asking me to dance?" she asked, grinning at him.

He nodded sheepishly before offering his hand to her. He led her to the dance floor, guiding her hands to rest on his shoulders before putting his on her waist. He then pulled her closer and called her name. He stared down at her as she looked up at his face.

"You still look ugly even with the makeup on, ugly," he then told her. But of course, it wasn't true.

She pouted and he chuckled at her childishness and continued dancing to the music.

They danced for three consecutive songs. He wanted to ask her to dance before the prom ended, but he noticed how she would wince whenever she stands up.

_Must be the heels she's wearing,_ he thought.

He didn't ask her to dance with him again.

* * *

They had finally graduated. A few months from now, they would go to a new school and they would start another chapter of their lives and meet new people. He knew he wasn't ready for any of that.

He hadn't told her about the feelings he had for her and there were still a lot of things he wanted to do before finally leaving high school. But time flew fast and all he could do now was regret the things he hadn't held back and the things he hadn't done...

He saw her, giggling at a fellow classmate as the latter denied being sleepy. He then called their classmate's name and asked her to move aside.

Thinking about her, he hugged his classmate and said, "I wanted to sleep beside you. And hug you..."

But still, she wasn't _her_.

Shaking his head, he lied on his back before moving to lie on his side facing her. "Still awake?" he then asked her.

He almost laughed when he saw her move, her hand flying to her chest in shock.

"You scared the hell out of me!"

He chuckled softly before putting his arms around her, before letting his face settle against the crook of her neck. He stayed like that for a while, basking on the sweet scent of her filling his entire system.

He heard her call out his name a few moments after. "What are you doing?"

He nuzzled his nose against her neck and he could almost swear he could feel her shudder against his touch.

"Sleeping," he then replied, before inhaling deeply.

"But I thought you wanted to sleep next to her," she mumbled, pointing to their classmate who was now lightly snoring beside him.

He let out a sigh before detaching himself from her.

"I―" he started, the remaining words still dangling on the tip of his tongue. _No, not now. I'll tell you once we see each other again. _

He then shook his head before proceeding to ruffle the crown of her head and wishing her a good night. He turned his back on her and his eyes widened in surprise a few seconds after when he felt her arms around him, hugging him from the back.

"Good night," he then heard her whisper.

* * *

Years passed and they hadn't seen each other once again. He didn't have the chance to tell her how he felt.

He had made the wrong decisions for all the wrong reasons. One drunken night, he got a high school student pregnant and ruined her life, her future. Still, he decided to take responsibility and took his son from the girl so that she could continue with her studies.

Over the years, he had forgotten about his seatmate, but seeing her private message on his Facebook account still made his heart flutter.

_How are you?,_ she asked, with a little smiley at the end.

He could only shake his head and smile at the message. He then realized, although years had passed, some things never truly change.

* * *

*_**Butterfinger**_: someone who is clumsy with objects, and tends to let them slip out of their hands. Someone who can't hold anything without dropping it. [_via urbandictionary_]


End file.
